Synopses & Reviews
A couple escaping the opulent lifestyle of Manhattans Upper East Side move to Newport, Rhode Island, only to be confronted by the trappings of the life they tried to leave behind.
Nate, a midlevel Wall Streeter, and his longtime girlfriend Emily are effectively evicted from New York City when they find they can no longer afford their apartment. An out presents itself in the form of a job offer for Nate in Newport—complete with a bucolic, small, and comparatively affordable new house. Eager to start fresh, they flee city life with their worldly goods packed tightly in their Jeep Cherokee. Yet within minutes of arriving in Rhode Island, their car and belongings are stolen, and they're left with nothing but the keys to an empty house and their bawling 10-month-old son.
Over the three-day weekend that follows, as Emily and Nate watch their meager pile of cash dwindle and tensions increase, the secrets they kept from each other in the city emerge, threatening to destroy their hope for a shared future.
A story about losing it all, the complexities of family histories, tainted gene pools, art theft, architecture, and the mad grab for the American Dream, The Exiles bravely explores the weight of our pasts—and whether or not it's truly possible to start over.
Review
“. . . A revelation, a suspenseful and indelible journey through fate, love, luck, and what it means to be a family.”
—Lauren Grodstein, author of A Friend of the Family and The Explanation for Everything
“. . . a true storyteller, Allison Lynn pulls us deep into the hearts and minds of a young couple caught up in a high-risk tangle of money, morality, and mortality.”
—Hillary Jordan, author of When She Woke and Mudbound
“Sharp, consoling, hilarious . . . Her characters are as lovely and embarrassing as our own sweet selves.”
— Dan Barden, author of The Next Right Thing
“Touching and funny and insightful. . . a cautionary tale for the post-Lehman, post-Occupy era.”
—Natalie Danford, author of Inheritance
Synopsis
An unmarried couple with a baby who can no longer afford their $5,000-a-month Manhattan apartment decide to flee the city and start fresh in Newport, RI. But over the course of three anxious days following their arrival in the picturesque town, secrets they have withheld from each other bubble up to the surface and they find themselves even more vulnerable than before.
Synopsis
A couple escaping the over-the-top lifestyle of Manhattan's Upper East Side move to the quaint town of Newport, only to be confronted by truths they tried to leave behind.
Synopsis
A couple escaping the over-the-top lifestyle of Manhattan's Upper East Side move to the quaint town of Newport, only to be confronted by truths they tried to leave behind. Nate, a midlevel money manager on Wall Street, and his girlfriend Emily can no longer afford their cramped $5,000-a-month apartment on the Upper East Side. They purchase an idyllic small home in Newport and flee city life with their belongings packed tightly in their Jeep Cherokee, eager to start new. But within minutes of arriving, the car is stolen and they're left with nothing but the keys to their empty house and a crying son.
Over the course of the following three days, as Emily and Nate watch their savings dwindle and tension increase, the secrets they kept from each other in the city emerge—and threaten to destroy their relationship.
The Exiles bravely explores how well we can know those we love—and whether or not a fresh start is possible.
About the Author
ALLISON LYNN is author of Now You See It, which won both the William Faulkner Medal from the Pirates Alley Faulkner Society and the Chapter One Award from the Bronx Writers Center. She teaches in the Creative Writing program at Butler University.